hey Kstyle, Jerry's birthday is August 1st

Great recording of a great show that culminated a great run! We camped in the Lot. Got parked next to a guy that sold us grams of his HG Mendocino for $5.
These were my first shows at Cal Expo. Never missed a show there after. I remember being blown away the how small it was. We walked right up to the front every night. Great memories!

This one is beautiful in terms of band interaction (e.g., check out Jerry and Brent in bird song). I was at this gig and was absolutely thrilled, but I submit that listening now so many years later this show holds up and I would recommend it all the way through based solely on the quality of the playing by the boyz.

Yes, his b'day show induced him to pull out the Stratocaster for the first time in many years...I think it was just for the second set...never saw it again, to my memory. It was interesting to hear how it changed his style; he played a little quicker with the Strat, and got wild feedback (check out the Fire, Samson and Other One solos), but it still had that unmistakably Jer tone and feel. His playing is absolutely shining on some of these tunes. The ScarletFire is a fine one, and featured the only rock star move I ever saw Jer pull off (sucessfully, anyhow!)...during the second Fire solo, he suddenly holds the Strat up high like Jimi or Eddie and wails away while doing a 360!!!! I am NOT kidding. Everyone mentioned it later, mighta been a hallucination but it fooled us all...if you'd seen endless shows with Garcia standing there almost comatose, this was like...like...well, like Jer doing a 360 with a Strat held up high over the old Gargut!!
The Birdsong and Other One are also pretty pure, as is the whole show. Jer and Brent do some nice trading off, Brent had a great night too...Phil is not in biscuit mode, but is very musical and funky...Bob was minimally Bobish, always a treat. The band sounded good and tight and ready to play forever.
Runs like this were rare and exquisite...they still seem like a dream.
'89 was perhaps the best year of the last ten, and this is one of the best shows of '89.

Someone please get a better AUD of this absolutely awesome second set!!! Steamroller 89 Dead at its finest. This one's worth checking out anyway. Why was the summer of 89 so much better than the spring?? Go figure.

After going to about 200 Dead shows, I think I witnessed the most intense ever...Listen to the Scarlet, when the band comes back in from the solo...Jerry's guitar is ferociously exquisite...and he is singing with a control that is unmatched.
I remember being backstage after, and Billy saying that he "wished every show was this great"...This is the relaxed perfection of real musicians at work.
Although the recording does not quite do it justice, the content smokes!!!

Neumanns will never let you down as this is a perfect example. Almost as good if not better than the board. 5 stars for the first set recording. Where were the 150s in the second set?

Nice strong '89 style performance from the band to finish up a very solid 3-day run of shows. First set Neumann source sounds EXCELLENT - Just listen to that Birdsong! Gorgeous.
Second set Nak source is a bit of a letdown in sound quality. Needs a severe cut in the low mids to be listenable. Audience is also much louder with the Naks. I would give a 5-star '89 rating if not for the change in sources. Worth hearing even if you weren't at the non-stop party that was Cal Expo.
LP